Tag: believe in magick

If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions “What is a witch? How do I become a witch? Am I a witch?”, this post is for you.

Let me start off by saying this, everyone will have their own interpretations and definitions for the word “witch”. They’ll have nuances and variations that they feel separates their craft from the rest of the world, and as long as they aren’t doing it to be derogatory toward others, I see no issue in making a definition as unique as our individual crafts.

However, I think most of us can agree that Witchcraft, with a capital W, is the practice of manipulating energy for a specific purpose, right? How we go about that manipulation is personal and individual, but the idea behind every intention, thought, prayer, or spell, is that there is something we wish to gain (peace of mind, harmony, money, friendship, love,sex, beauty- it can be anything), and we want to affect the ability to receive it quickly and efficiently.

So, the question remains: Are you capable of being a witch?

The answer is going to shock you… are you ready for it?

Willy Wonka knows what’s up…

Not only are you capable of being a witch, you were born one!

(If hate-mail could be streaming in as soon as I typed that sentence from the die-hard “thou shalt not suffer a witch” people- my computer would explode. But, unfortunately for them, majority of their practices are even more blatantly witchcraft than the examples I’m going to give you!)

If you’ve ever wished upon a shooting star, closed your eyes and blew out birthday candles hoping to bring that new bike you’ve always wanted, cried your eyes out to a sappy song and hoped for a love that would make your heart swell, or even wished someone well when they weren’t feeling good- you’ve been practicing witchcraft.

You see, it’s a relatively simple concept- any time you ask for, or intentionally hope for, a change in your current energy, circumstance, or environment, you’re manipulating energy. And, as we’ve already stated- that’s pretty much the absolute bare minimum basic of being a witch.

The strange thing is that everyone practices these little spells, yet, no one associates them with magick. Why?

Where people disconnect the two is at the core of belief. When you wish someone well after they’ve come down with the flu, is it out of obligation and politeness, or do you truly want them to get better? For most people, it’s the former. There is no real belief in the idea that our well-wishes can affect others in a positive way, or that blowing out the candles will result in our dreams coming true. So what’s the reason in saying them at all?

Get Well Soon, but not really…

The reason, for me, is that we are all must have been born witches. We are all born with this innate sense of the Universe (or whatever you choose to call the energy around us) and our connection with it. As we begin to learn of our bodies, and this plane we currently exist on, that sense starts to wane. We push part of it down in order to survive our formative years; then, as we get older, it’s taught out of us.

Look at any 4 year old with a marker and an imagination. The world is beautiful and chaotic to them. It is full of magick and wonder, and every thing they think is something they honestly believe can exist. Dinosaurs and Unicorns could totally have once rode together to battle for The Kingdom in the Clouds, and in their mind, no one can convince them it’s false.

As that child ages, adults start correcting them and their imagination- forcing both to mold into cookie-cutter ideas of what is acceptable and what is fantasy. Children, who are born knowing there is something else out there, start relying instead on their peers and parents to tell them what’s real, as they’ve been taught that they can’t trust their own feelings or ideas.

Yet, everyone still holds on to the subconscious idea of magick- we never fully lose it! We have tiny little rituals that exist in almost every modern culture that screams of another way to exist, a different belief, than the current mainstream ideas.

It’s when the disconnect, or the disbelief, starts turning into a validation of the efficacy of ones magick that we lose all hope. When someone doesn’t get well after our wishes, we in turn take that to mean it’s an empty symbol- a gesture done for no other reason than to alert the person that you’ve made an obligatory salute to their distress. Boom, done, moving on!

But, what if we believed? Not superficially, like the kid who blows out the candles hoping but secretly knowing he’s not getting that bike, but deep down in our soul. Instead, what if we believed like a child who goes to sleep on Christmas Eve knowing Santa will visit them in the night and bring them gifts aplenty? What if we knew that when we wished someone well they would?

Like these metronomes, we’re creating our own energetic frequency via each individual thought- and in turn, the energetic frequencies of the Universe will begin to synchronize with what them. If we believe, we receive.

That’s witchcraft for me. It is the belief that I, this tiny inconsequential human to most beliefs, am actually an all powerful force to be reckoned with. It is the belief that in this vessel of human existence lies a compelling and beautiful piece of divinity, able to co-create realities with the Universe via the power of thought. It is the belief that in these lumpy finger tips I possess the ability to not only harness energies unseen, but to manipulate and control them to bring me what is best for me.

For me, it is also a belief that these energies are tangible and real, able to be felt consciously and by others (though sometimes unknowingly). For me, it is also the belief that there are ways to communicate with the Universe (or the divine as you see fit) because we are not only created from it, we are a part of it. For me, it is also the belief that the only limitations in our power is the belief in limitations.

To some, it seems illogical. They’ve been taught for so long that magick can’t be real that to make the leap into believing that our thoughts can create realities just seems nonsensical.

Yet, pick up a self-help book by any of the multi-millionaire gurus, and what do they all have in common? They all talk about how much mindset matters. You can’t achieve what you don’t work for, and you don’t work for what you don’t believe you can have. It is the same with Witchcraft, only the application is different.

In fact, I’m currently reading this book (along with a few others) and applying them directly to my craft! Buy it on Amazon

In theory, in the practice of Witchcraft, you could create a spell and do nothing for it- but you’d have to know, without a doubt, that it would manifest. In my experience, however, you only create at the level you believe– and belief generally comes riding in on the horse of work. People often confuse magick with Hollywood magic thinking that just the wriggling of one’s nose will bring about a result. It doesn’t work that way (at least, I don’t believe it does- so it doesn’t for me…you see what I did there?)

Say you decide to do a weight loss spell. You have two options after your spell is complete: 1) sit on the couch and wait; 2) work for it and believe it will manifest.

The person who chooses 1 is going to start doubting the efficacy of the magick quite quickly, or already does- hence the lethargy and inaction- and will only bring about negative (opposite of what they want) results through their thoughts. The person who chooses option 2 will start to see results and will affirm their belief that their magick is working with every new victory.

But, wait, Nicole, wouldn’t it be the working out and eating right that’s caused the weight loss? Not the magick?

As someone who’s struggled with her weight all her life, believe me when I say that every pound shed is hard earned. Did magick take the weight off me, or was it my dedication?

Let me put it another way- if I’ve gained enough weight to feel I need a spell to lose it, where did my sudden dedication to losing it come from? Where did the power to get up every morning at 5am and keep going to the gym to lift those weights come from? Where did the strength and willpower to turn down that delicious looking sweet-treat that I am physically addicted to and instead eat a salad, come from?

Some say discipline. And while I snicker silently, I beg them to look at the rest of my life and see if that word exists anywhere in my lexicon. I’m a Gemini, folks, discipline is damn near a bad word to us.

You can say the F-bomb and we’re fine, mention discipline and we’ll cover our ears and scream until you go away!

It was the belief that going to the gym would result in positive things. That belief stemmed from my belief in my magick and my spellwork. It came from the idea that what I think I create. The logical part of our brain doesn’t just shut off because we believe in magick- in fact, it will sometimes need to be fed to keep your magick strong! I don’t believe that I’ll just wake up tomorrow a size two- and because of that, I won’t. However, I did believe, completely and without doubt, that I could cut out sugar and sweets to make myself healthier. I did believe, completely and fully, that working out would lead to a massive shift in my weight.

I believed these things because my magick solidified them for me- creating a wheel of momentum that is now unstoppable.

You’ll hear some say “well, what comes first the chicken or the egg?” Is it the magick that creates the belief or the belief that creates the magick?

Is it the thought, or the belief that comes first?

I say, as long as you have both, what the hell does it matter? If my thoughts can create reality, and I see validation that my thoughts create reality- what difference does it make whether it was the belief in my thoughts creating that reality (explained away by non-believers as “luck” or coincidence) or my thoughts that’s creating the belief (explained away by non-believers as being fanciful or “gullible”)?

It’s not our job to carry around other’s opinions of us. It’s not our job to take on any more than ourselves, our thoughts, our realities- and if that’s the case, like an author writing into existence a world that up until his pencil touched the page only lived in his head, who’s to say we can’t manipulate and change what we want at will?

I say we totally can, and there’s no ritual, book, spell, or initiation that’s needed to connect with the gift you were given at birth.